Phillies bats go cold in second straight shutout loss against Astros

HOUSTON — Brandon Marsh’s line drive to right field in the eighth inning Wednesday looked as if it might give the Phillies a glimmer of hope.

It marked their first hit since the fifth inning, as the Astros bullpen had steamrolled towards their second consecutive shutout. Trea Turner immediately followed it up with another single, and an infield hit from Kyle Schwarber loaded the bases.

For a team that had slugged 198 home runs last season, a 1-0 deficit should have been trivial. But for a team that had not scored since the seventh inning on Sunday against the Mets, it might as well have been Mount Everest.

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And sure enough, Alec Bohm fouled off four pitches before waving at a fastball well outside, and Nick Castellanos grounded out. The Phillies’ best hope of ending their scoreless streak was stranded at third base.

“At the end of the day, we had some guys on base, we just didn’t execute,” Schwarber said. “And it comes down on us.”

By the time the game ended, a 2-0 loss to Houston, the scoreless streak had reached 19 innings. It is the longest drought of the season so far.

For the second consecutive night, the Phillies’ starting pitcher held the Astros to a single run. But also for the second consecutive night, the Phillies’ offense failed to back up the performance.

An early run that scored on Zack Wheeler before he could record an out in the first inning ultimately became the difference in the game. Jeremy Peña led off the inning with a ground-rule double and scored when a ball skipped under Turner’s glove at shortstop.

“I think he was having trouble finding the command with his slider, and so there were a lot of deep counts, a lot of foul balls, but then he found it,” said manager Rob Thomson, “and then he was superb after that.”

Wheeler allowed the first two batters to reach in the second inning, too, with a walk and a single. But then he started cruising, rediscovering his command to retire the next nine consecutive Astros. He sidestepped two more walks and a single in the sixth to keep Houston from inflicting further damage on the scoreboard.

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“My arm felt great tonight,” Wheeler said. “I think I was just maybe overthrowing just a little bit, some small misses, couple big misses, but I was basically around the zone. So just one of those nights for trying to figure it out as you go.”

Wheeler threw more sinkers than is typical for him, turning to the pitch 30% of the time for about double his normal usage rate. He got five whiffs on the pitch as he struck out eight total Astros.

The Phillies offense had also wasted a dominant outing from Ranger Suárez in their 1-0 loss on Tuesday.

“It stinks when you get two performances like that, because I know those two guys are really good pitchers, but also [that’s] hard to come by against lineups in the big leagues,” Schwarber said. “And you want to capitalize on those.”

The Phillies hit nine balls harder than 95 mph that resulted in outs, including a deep flyout from Bryson Stott that would have been a home run in 10 other ballparks. Edmundo Sosa’s double on Tuesday marks the Phillies’ only extra-base hit of the series so far.

Victor Caratini hit a solo home run off Matt Strahm in the eighth. Josh Hader retired three straight Phillies in the ninth to close the game.

Bryce Harper has been moving closer to a return from the injured list by taking batting practice in the cages during the current trip. While there is no concrete timeline for his reactivation, the Phillies could sure use his power back in their lineup.

“I think it will even itself out. I really do,” Thomson said. “Baseball is a funny game. Weird things happen, but we got to just settle down and believe in ourselves. Don’t try to do too much.”